The evolutionary explanations for partner preferences:

Question 1

what are the key points on evolutionary explanations for partner preferences?

Answer 1

natural selection
inter-sexual selection
intra-sexual selection
male-female dimorphism

Question 2

what is natural selection?

Answer 2

human behaviour is driven by the need to survive and reproduce
humans must make sure that they have children that survive to adulthood
genes that give a reproductive advantage will increase in the gene pool

Question 3

what is inter-sexual selection?

Answer 3

strategy of females
due to high investment cost and parental certainty of children
pick the highest quality mate from a wide selection of available mates according to attractive features with indicate good genes

Question 4

what is intra-sexual selection?

Answer 4

strategy of males
due to low investment costs and lack of parental certainty
competing between each other for access to a large quantity of members of the opposite sex
this favours dominant large males

Question 5

what is male-female dimorphism?

Answer 5

enhanced secondary sexual characteristics are selected for by both genders
leading to these becoming more common in the population

Question 6

what do females look for in a mate according to evolutionary psychology?

Answer 6

qualities that will help raise a child to adulthood:
resources, money, physical characteristics linked to dominance e.g. tall, healthy, strong v-shaped chest for protection for the family

Question 7

what do males look for in a mate according to evolutionary psychology?

Answer 7

qualities of fertility that indicate production of healthy offspring: youth, young facial features, large breasts, good waist to hip ratio indicates sexual maturity

Question 8

research study supporting evolutionary explanations for partner preferences - global survey

Answer 8

Buss (1989) surveyed 10,000 adults from 33 countries on partner preferences when selecting a mate

found males prioritised factors that indicated reproductive capacity e.g. younger ages, chastity, good lucks
females prioritised factors that indicated resources e.g. money, ambition, industriousness

suggests that actual preferences of men and women match those predicted by the evolutionary approach

research lacks culture bias due to research conducted across multiple countries - findings reflect a true emic construct and show that behaviour is universal across cultures

Question 9

research study supporting evolutionary explanations for partner preferences - lonely hearts

Answer 9

Dunbar and Waynforth (1995) used a content analysis method of 900 personal dating ads across US newspapers

found 42% of males looked for ‘youthful’ mates compared to 25% of females
men more likely to emphasise their economic status in their own ads
women more likely to emphasise their looks in their own ads

supports evolutionary theory:
men advertised resources and status
females advertised and men looked for capability of reproduction

Question 10

research study supporting evolutionary explanations for partner preferences - questions

Answer 10

Clarke and Heartfield (1989)
Male and female student researchers asked other students on campus one of 3 questions:
‘will you go out with me tonight?’
‘will you go back to my house?’
‘will you have sex with me?’
found that 50% of both genders agreed to a date
0% of females agreed to sex compared to 75% of males

suggests both concepts of intra and inter sexual selection are relevant
males will attempt to sleep with as many women as possible
women will be more selective and less interested in causal sex

Question 11

evaluations of evolutionary explanation for partner preferences

Answer 11

• conflict between natural selection and sexual selection in real world e.g. peacock feathers are selected due to sexual selection but can be a disadvantage in survival such as escaping from predators
  + Cunningham found men were most attracted to altered images of women to make them look more youthful (larger eyes, smaller nose and chin)
  + Singh shows a cross cultural preference for 0.7 hip to waist ratio despite different beauty standards
• suggests alpha bias due to exaggerating differences between men and women - causing a double standard
• socially sensitive research - may be used to justify shaming women for their sexual behaviour
• cannot be used to explain homosexual partner preferences as they cannot procreate